Pepperoni Pizza Muffins

Little Caesars Crazy Puffs Made at Home and Saved from Long Driving to the Nearest Branch.

Pepperoni pizza muffins are not only restaurant remakes, but also a great way to get everyone in the kitchen to have some quality time.

Total Time: 31 Minutes
Prep Time: 15 Minutes  
Inactive Cook Time: 16 Minutes  
Serving: Make 16 Puffs

My son loves pizzas. Of course, when this pepperoni pizza muffins were out and advertised on TV, he asked if we could go to give it a try. Our closest branch is at least 30 minutes away. But the location has a very high crime rate. As a result, the next best location is about an hour drive away. Since my son and I love adventures, we didn't mind taking a bit longer drive to get these cuties and try them out. Of course, the first bite, he was hooked. To us, driving there every time, it is not feasible, given the long drive and high gas price. My next best way to accommodate his craving is to make them at home, just like many restaurant copycat recipes I published.

After my first trial, I still felt that there was something missing even though my son was super happy with the result already. But I always strive for the best. Here are several tips that I want to share with you during my many trials so that they can save you from some frustrations:

When we took the first bite of this pizza puff from the restaurant chain, I knew immediately that they use the pizza dough. But I chose not to do it because all my recipes on this website are to be quick and easy. I always think and plan on it from the perspective of a busy family.

TIPS & TRICKS

What Dough Should You Pick?

When I used pizza dough or bread dough, I found that it took at least another 15-20 minutes to struggle with the dough and spread it out. The dough itself tends to bounce back to previous shape.

Now, does that mean pizza or bread dough not working? No. If you have that extra 15-20 minutes to spare, please feel free to use it.

If you choose to do so, buy some pre-made doughs. I bought those from the tube. It's easier to divide the dough into equal amount. Once it is divided into smaller portion, you will need to roll them up like a ball shape before pressing it flat. Then, transfer the dough into the muffin tin cup. Stretch the dough out as much as you can before adding sauce, cheeses and other ingredients on top.

In this recipe, I use biscuit dough and it is the flaky one which compensate the crusty pizza dough that I wanted to use.

Muffin Tins in Different Sizes?

Believe it or not, different brand has different size.

When I first started trying out this recipe, I only had one muffin tin.  But then I realized immediately that I needed an extra one to make the whole batch.  Not until after trying to stack them up for storage, I learned that they are different size in design. As a result, I can’t stack these 2 tins together.

My point is that if you run into the situation like I do when you need to buy an extra pan, check out the brand and/or model number of the existing one (it is usually at the bottom of the pan).

Skip the Cooking Spray

How often do we use no-stick cooking spray? Very often. But not this recipe. I learned my lesson in a hard way. Cooking spray on the muffin tin would make the dough moving around while you try to spread it out to make a cup. So, a non-stick pan is good enough.

Who Doesn't Like It Saucy?

You will have some leftover from the tomato sauce after adding a teaspoon each into these cuties. If you like to dip these pepperoni pizza muffins into the sauce while you enjoy them, here are a couple steps you can do:

1. You can skip adding the sauce into each muffin and save the entire can of sauce later,
2. You can use the remaining sauce to warm it up in a small sauce pan while they are in the oven. It may not be a lot. But if it is enough for you, that's perfectly fine, OR
3. You can use the remaining sauce, plus more to warm it up in a sauce pan. This will depend how much you may need. It can be as easy as adding another 8-ounce can. You may need as much as adding a 14-ounce can.

After transferring the sauce into a sauce pan to warm it up, you are going to spice up the tomato sauce with the following ingredients:

1. Italian seasonings
2. Garlic (garlic powder is perfectly fine)
3. Salt and pepper to taste

Do remember that the sauce you are going to warm up could be varied in quantity based on your choice as mentioned above. So, add the spices and seasonings accordingly. Just don't overdo it.

Pepperoni Pizza Muffins Recipe and Instructions

For Pizza Muffins
Ingredients
1 tube (16 oz) Biscuit Dough (split dough into halves horizontally)
8oz Pre-Shredded Mozzarella Cheese
2tbsp Parmesan Cheese
1 can (8 oz) Tomato sauce
2 Slices of Pepperoni (per muffin)
Italian seasoning
2 tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil

For Melted Garlic Butter (optional)
Ingredients
1 small clove of Crushed Garlic
2tbsp Butter

1. Preheat oven at 325/350F (Follow the instructions on the biscuit dough package. There is a temperature difference between using regular and non-stick bakeware.)
2. Split half of a biscuit dough and transfer each half into a cup of a muffin tin #PaidLink (not cupcake tin). Slightly press the dough into the cup to stabilize it. Repeat this step until all dough pieces are split into halves and in the muffin tin cups.
3. Use a (shot) glass or cup that fit into a muffin cup. Dip that glass with a little bit of extra virgin olive oil to keep it from sticking. Then, press the greased glass bottom into the dough and twist it back and forth twice to spread the dough out to make a cup shape. Repeat this step until all doughs pressed into the shape of the muffin cup.
4. Top the dough with these ingredients in the following order:
   1 tsp sauce + 1 slice of pepperoni + 1 tbsp shredded mozzarella cheese + 1 slice of pepperoni + a pinch of shredded Parmesan cheese + 1 tbsp shredded mozzarella cheese + a dash of Italian seasoning.
5. Transfer crazy puffs into the preheated oven and bake for 16 minutes until cheese is a little bit golden brown (or the longest baking time according to the biscuit package)
6. (This step is optional) While waiting, melt about 2 tbsp of butter with a small crushed garlic. Once the butter is melted, turn off heat and let the garlic keep infusing the butter while the crazy puffs are still in the oven.
7. Take puffs out of the oven and sit in room temperature for about 5 minutes. Brush the garlic butter on top of the pepperoni pizza muffins. Serve immediately and enjoy!

Pepperoni Pizza Muffins Steps with Photos

4 basic ingredients to make these pepperoni pizza muffins.

Split each biscuit dough into halves.

Put each half of the dough into muffin cups.

Use a cup or glass that can fit into the muffin cups. Grease the bottom with a little bit of oil.

Push the greased bottom in and twist back and forth to spread out the dough.

Repeat the last step until all pieces of dough are in cup shape.

Add a teaspoon of tomato sauce in each cup.

Add Parmesan cheese (not too much) and pepperoni

Add shredded mozzarella cheese

Repeat one more layer of pepperoni and mozzarella cheese. It may look overflow. Bake in the oven.

While the crazy puffs are in the oven baking, melt butter with a clove of garlic.

Make garlic butter sauce. This sauce is optional.

Let these cuties sit in room temperature for 5 minutes.

Brush garlic butter sauce on top of pepperoni pizza muffins.

Enjoy immediately!

Look at that melted gooey cheese! Hmmm...it's a bite of heaven!!!

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